The area was originally known as Maskwacis and Father Constantine Scollen always referred to it as "Bear Hills" when he attempted to re-establish a Catholic mission there, in late 1884 and 1885, around the time that he and Chief Bobtail succeeded in persuading the young men not to join the "Riel Rebellion" of that year. It was named Hobbema after Meindert Hobbema during the construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway in 1891. The community, including the hamlet portion within Ponoka County, was renamed Maskwacis (meaning "bear hills" in Cree) on January 1, 2014.[1][4]

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The community straddles the boundaries between the Ermineskin Cree Nation reserve, the Samson Cree Nation reserve and Ponoka County. The northern portion of the community is located within the Ermineskin reserve on the west side of Highway 2A. The southern portion of the community is located within the Samson reserve on the east side of Highway 2A and north side of Highway 611. The remaining portion of the community is located within Ponoka County on the west side of Highway 2A across from the Samson reserve portion of the community and south of the Ermineskin portion of the community.

As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Maskwacis (Hobbema) recorded a population of 60 living in 21 of its 22 total private dwellings, an increase from its 2011 population of 0. With a land area of 0.27 km2 (0.10 sq mi), it had a population density of 226.2/km2 in 2016.[7]

Despite the designated place portion of Maskwacis having a population of 61 people living in 17 total dwellings in the 2006 Census,[2] Statistics Canada reported the designated place had no population and no dwellings in the 2011 Census.[8] The designated place has a land area of 0.23 km2 (0.089 sq mi).[8]

The population of the "four nations" that surround Maskwacis was 7,582 in the 2011 Census, including 1,874 living on the Ermineskin 138 IR, 1,309 on the Louis Bull 138B IR, 653 on the Montana 139 IR and 3,746 on the Samson 137 IR.[9]

The community has attracted national media attention in Canada for its problems with crime and gangs. In an attempt to cut down on crime, the Hobbema Cadet Corp was established with the goal of keeping children as young as eight years old off the streets.[10][11][12]

The Pê Sâkâstêw Centre, a minimum-security facility based on Aboriginal healing processes, is located in Maskwacis.[13]